Romans 10:1
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
Similar to how chapter 9 started off, we see Paul's heart of compassion in verse 1. He just spent chapter 9 talking about the state of Israel and how they ended up stumbling at that stumbling stone, namely Jesus Christ. He posed the question in 9:30-32 as to why they didn't attain to righteousness while the Gentiles did, concluding that they tried to get it themselves through the works of the Law and had not faith. Now Paul is lamenting and praying for this need, that those of Israel would be saved; that they would see the truth and be set free by it. This is a prayer that is continued to this day by the church, which is His body, not just for Israel, but for all the unsaved in this dying world. Because those that understand who they are in Christ share God's heartfelt desire in that all would be saved and come to the complete knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4), not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance (1 Pet 3:9).
Interesting to note that the original language does not have the word "Israel" here but rather the pronoun "them." Nevertheless, it is most definitely implied in the context and should be understood to be Israel. Also, there is an unstralated Greek word "men" here, which adds emphasis. It is defined as a usually untranslatable word, but has the idea of "truly" or "indeed." The beginning of the verse starts like this, "Brethren, the true (men) desire of my heart..." One more thing to note is the word "prayer" here is the Greek "deesis." It is different than the more commonly used word for prayer, which is proseuche, in that deesis is referring to a particular lack on the requesting side. Paul recognizes that Israel is not saved from sin and death, meaning those of Israel that trust in the works of the Law for salvation apart from faith. In reality, he recognized that need everywhere, but as we see, Israel holds a very special place in his heart.
The latter half of the verse does read slightly differently in the Greek as well. The English of the KJV seems to give the intent of a future action, that they might be saved. The Greek says that this is a prayer or plea on behalf of Israel that they are saved presently. The whole verse is literally translated this way, "Brethren, the true desire of my heart and the supplication before (pros) the God on behalf of them [is] to the point of (eis) salvation.
Romans 10:2
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Paul's concern for unsaved Israel is because he knows how much they want to please God, but they aren't going about it the right way. As he said back in chapter 9, they are without faith in God, but rather their faith is in their works. Yes, they have zeal for God, but not according to complete knowledge of who God is or what He is asking them to do.
This verse is pretty much spot on with the Greek. I want to point out that the word for "knowledge" here is epignossis, meaning the complete, accurate knowledge (literally upon-knowledge).
Romans 10:3
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Israel is zealous for God, but we see the problem very clearly in this verse. They were seeking to establish a righteousness of their own. They had no idea of the righteousness of God, or that it was freely given to those of faith, but rather sought to work their way from sin to righteousness. God was very clear to them, that their salvation began with faith, but was then worked out through the Law. Faith and works went hand in hand.
We see that throughout Israel's history in the times of the judges and the times of the kings where the promises to them of God were fulfilled. He promised prosperity for the times where they would have faith and carry out the works and desolation for when they didn't (Deut 28). Reading through the books of 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, we see that every king was measured by his faith and works.
Even so, the concept here in Rom 10:3 can be traced back to Genesis 3. We can ask ourselves today, "Where is my faith at?" and "What is my faith in?" Do I believe the truth and trust in God? Do I believe Him at His word? Will I trust in Him and obey what He's telling me today? Alternatively, do I believe that I can be my own god? Can I get to Heaven myself? What are my actions showing of my faith? All of these questions can point to each of us where our faith is at and what it is in. It boils down to this: Do I have faith in God and the truth or Satan and the lie? Only faith in God will lead to life. Faith in anything else, which ultimately is Satan and the lie, leads to death. God has always presented this dichotomy in the bible. To attain life, all anyone needs to do in this day and age is trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross, that His blood atones for the sins of each individual who believes. Jesus then becomes your Head, or authority, and you ought to obey Him to be a living sacrifice unto Him, which is your reasonable service (Rom 12:1). You were bought back to Him with a price (1 Cor 6:20, 7:23), so yes, you ought to live for Him, though your salvation from sin and death doesn't depend on your works. But why leave people to confusion? Take a stand for what you believe in and show the love of Christ, which should compel every believer to share the beautiful message of reconciliation we were given. (2 Cor 5:14-20).
Romans 10:4
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Note well what is being introduced here. God had just talked about Israel seeking righteousness through the Law and the works thereof, and not with faith. The conditions for salvation ever since the gospel of the circumcision was implemented was faith PLUS works. Refer back to the account in Genesis 17:10 to see when it was implemented. The promise was still in effect, but those who wanted to participate in that promise MUST be circumcised. What if they weren't circumcised? Genesis 17:14 couldn't be clearer. That one was cut off from his people, or from that covenant promise. What is this people? Who were they? Those of the promise, which we could call the circumcision. Later, the Law came in because of transgressions. That also did not make the promise of no effect, as we see in Galatians 3:15-19. But these things were done as part of salvation under that covenant. The other part was faith, just like Abraham had. Faith plus works.
Now we see the point from the hand of Paul, inspired of God, to tell us that Christ is the end, or the goal, or the aim of the Law, so that all who believe in Him will attain righteousness. I see this verse as a dispensational statement, especially when looked at in the Greek. Paul had just written that Israel did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God. What is that righteousness? Where is that righteousness to be found? It is in Christ to all that believe. This is doctrine unique to Paul. We will see more dispensational differences in this chapter.
I feel the need simply to share the literal translation of the Greek. I think it's clear and shows the thought of the verse clearer than the old English here.
The end indeed of Law, Christ, to the point of (eis) righteousness to the all believing
The last 3 words of the Greek are in the Dative, so "the all" is the indirect object of the thought and they are all of the ones believing. Believing in what? That Christ is the end of the Law (cf Col 2:6-23). Note that the verb "believing" is in the present tense. We would expect this because if it was in the Aorist or Perfect tense, then it would indicate that any who believed before this present dispensation would attain righteousness by faith alone in Christ apart from any work. That isn't true nor consistent with what we just read in Genesis 17 or Exodus 19-20. No, this doctrine is the gospel of the UNcircumcision. That's why we test the things that differ (Phil 1:9-10) and rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).
Romans 10:5
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
See how Paul compares the righteousness of verse four to the righteousness of the law? We're going to continue to go back and forth in this chapter. The righteousness which is of the law comes from a someone doing the works of the law. That is quite different than believing that Christ is the end of the Law.
The little words make a difference here. Take a look at this rendering with the Greek in parentheses:
Moses indeed (gar) writes (grapho - describeth in the KJV) that [of] the righteousness which is out of (ek) the law, that the man having practiced them will live in (en) it.
How does one obtain righteousness out of the law? Someone must practice the works of the law. By practicing the works of the law, one will live in the righteousness that is out of the law. Makes sense, right? But now the question should be, should we desire to have the righteousness of the law or God's righteousness? God says that it is now by faith alone in what Christ did on the cross that one receives His righteousness, as in verses three and four. The righteousness of the law apart from faith is self-righteousness (verse 3) and ultimately amounts to nothing. There are several scriptures to cite about that, but the one that popped in my head first is the description of the evil servant of Matt 24:48-51. Note the word servant there. This is someone serving God in their own efforts apart from faith, compared to the faithful and wise servant in verses 45-47. In the dispensation of the gospel of the Circumcision, salvation could be lost. Don't ever forget that, and how awesome it is that we are sealed by God's Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption today (Eph 1:13-14). If one heard the word of truth and rejected it in the dispensation of the gospel of the Circumcision, the end of that person would be worse than if they wouldn't have heard at all (Matt 12:43-45, 2 Pet 2:20). That means that there is various degrees of torment in the lake of the fire. Scary thoughts.
The quote in this verse is from Lev 18:5
Romans 10:6
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
Here is another time the word "de" is translated as "but," though it could be "now." Paul is introducing a contrast here, so "but" certainly fits. We just heard of the righteousness out of the law in verse 5, which was different than the righteousness of God which is out of faith as in verses 3-4. Here in verse 6 we go back to the righteousness which is out of faith. The quote is from Deut 30:12-14 in the next couple of verses.
We have further revelation of the verses from Deuteronomy here. Christ is the fulfillment of these verses. The question of who will ascend into the Heaven (definite article present), is answered by the fact that is Christ came down to earth. It's an interesting word in the Greek that is translated "bring down" in this verse. It is the word katago, which is a compound word of kata (down or against) and ago (to lead). The word is used 9 times in the New Testament and can mean bringing down literally, as in the case when Paul is brought down to stand before his accusers (Acts 22:30, 23:15, 20, 28). But it can also mean changing from sea to land, as in Luke 5:11, Acts 27:3 (touched), and Acts 28:12 (landing). Either way, we see this as God sending Christ down from Heaven to share the truth of His word with the people on earth.
Understanding the verses in Deuteronomy from this perspective, it shouldn't be confusing that no one person should think they need to go up to the Heaven themselves to get the word of truth. Christ has done that for us. Even when the verses were written in Deuteronomy, it was written that they should take it by faith that the words being delivered to Israel were the very words of God. It will be clear by the time we get to Rom 10:8.
Romans 10:7
Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
Now we have the opposite direction of verse six to cover the full gamut. It is continuing the quote in Deut 30:13. Who will descend to the deep? This question is fulfilled by Christ rising from the dead. In the context in Deuteronomy, the question was being posed where to find the righteous commandment. Would someone have to go to Heaven to find it? Would someone have to return from place of the dead to find it? We will get the conclusion in the next verse.
The phrase "the deep" here is the Greek abussos, or abyss. It is the place of the dead, but the literal translation is bottomless.
Romans 10:8
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
This question is one we should ask ourselves often. What does God say? What does the scripture say? The conclusion to verses six and seven are found right here by answering what does the scripture say? It says that the word is near, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the word of faith that is proclaimed. It is right here.
Do you believe it? God will tell us how to be saved in the next verse, that is, to obtain the righteousness of God which is by faith (verse 6). God tells us many times how to obtain righteousness, but repeating it that many times is for our safety and assurance (Phil 3:1).
The Greek for "word" here is rhema, which is the spoken word. This spoken word is so close, it is in your mouth and in your heart. This spoken word is the faith (definite article present) proclaimed by the apostle Paul. The Greek word for "preach" is kerusso, which is simply a proclamation. This is different than euaggelizo, which is where we get our word evangelize, and means to preach good news. Paul and his travelling companions announced the way of salvation, which is in the next verse.
Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
The righteousness which is of faith is to believe in the heart that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. This means the believer acknowledges that Jesus is Lord, and that Jesus did the atoning work for the sinner through the death, burial, and resurrection. This is full, sincere faith in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says a few times that anything short of sincere faith is not faith at all, or rather is empty (1 Cor 15:2, Gal 4:11, 1 Thess 3:5). One is dead in trespasses and sins until that moment of sincere faith (Eph 2:1-5).
Faith alone in what God has done through the finished work of Christ is what saves. Praise the Lord for giving us such a glorious gospel of His grace!
Romans 10:10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Salvation is so simple and so close to everyone. Have faith in what Christ has done for you. Believe it in your heart, in your very core, and you are translated to righteousness. What one believes naturally gets worked out. The Greek word for confession is homolegeo (homo = same, legeo = speak). Literally it is speaking the same thing as your heart. Speak your faith with your mouth. Live your faith in all ways. Don't keep it hidden from the world, but be separated unto who you are in Christ, that the world may see and know Jesus Christ is Lord.
I'm sure this is an accurate translation, but here is my black and white thinking. First, the word "man" is not there in the Greek so we should leave that out. The nouns "the heart" and "the mouth" are in the Dative, so they are indirect objects. Here is a literal translation:
[to/with] the heart indeed is believing to the point of (eis) righteousness, now (de) [to/with] the mouth confesses to the point of (eis) salvation.
If this is something truly believed, then say it. The heart and mouth must agree.
Romans 10:11
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
It's always good to back up statements with scripture reference. God quotes Himself through Paul here from Isaiah 28:16.
There are a couple things to point out in the Greek. First, there is a definite article and the word "pas" which literally means "the all." This in in place of the English word "Whosoever." The word "on" here is "epi" in the Greek and is more properly "upon."
Don't overlook this short verse, because it is a promise of scripture. Every individual who fully believes upon Jesus Christ will not be ashamed. We have all of those spiritual blessings in the heavenlies and a heavenly home to look forward to, and we will certainly not be disappointed.
Romans 10:12
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
This statement has been true since the beginning of time. God has never been a respecter of persons, like we've explored in detail in this epistle. God has always wanted everyone saved and to know the truth (1 Tim 2:4), no matter who they are. If anyone calls upon Him, or truly believes upon Him, God will save them, as we see in the next verse.
Romans 10:13
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Pretty straight forward, right? This is the reasoning for verse 12 and is quoted from Joel 2:32. The Lord Jesus Christ is rich upon all that call upon Him, and whoever calls upon Him will be saved. Saved from what? An eternity separated from Jesus Christ because of the inherited sin from Adam. All it takes is faith in Jesus Christ, who He is, and what He has done (1 Cor 15:1-4).
The Greek once again as the definite article before the word "all" here. "For the all shall..." The Greek has that word "an" here also, which indicates a possibility. The KJV is a good translation. It also could be rendered this way:
For the all will be saved if they call upon the name of the Lord.
There really is the possibility that every single soul will be saved. The choice lies on each one of us. God reconciled the world to Himself through Jesus Christ on the cross and lays out salvation as a free gift to all who will receive it. Have you received it?
Romans 10:14
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
The next logical question is how to unbelievers come to the point of calling on someone they haven't believed in? It doesn't make sense for an unbeliever to believe in someone they don't know or haven't heard of. They wouldn't even hear of it unless someone opens their mouth. This is why it is so important to understand that, as believers, we have been committed the message of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18-19). It is our responsibility to get this word out to everyone. Paul makes the claim that he was innocent of the blood of all because he proclaimed the whole truth (Acts 20:26-27). Can any of us say that? Let us not be afraid of sharing this life-giving message, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (Rom 1:16). Don't give into fear, for through God's Holy Spirit in us, we have the ability. We have the truth of His Word, and we can share it in love (Eph 4:15, 2 Tim 1:7).
I just want to point out three things in the Greek. The first is the word "on" in this verse is "eis" which means to the point of or toward. The first question could be rendered, "Therefore, how shall they call to Him they have not believed?" The second things is that the word "de" is translated "and" both times in this verse. It's a bit more emphatic when asking those questions. Third, the word for "without" is really the Greek choris, which means apart from. That is the idea in the old English, but it may get missed in modern reading. The last question should be understood as "Now how shall they hear apart from a preacher?" That should stir up some zeal in all of us to make sure we preach this message and follow Paul as he followed Christ (1 Cor 4:16, 11:1)
Romans 10:15
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
To continue with the questions from verse 14, how should those preach the word unless they are sent? It doesn't make sense to go and talk about just anything. These people need to understand the good tidings they bring. They need to be sent, approved to the work that is to be done. What a wonderful opportunity and honor it is to preach this good news! To be sure, though, to be sent doesn't mean that one needs to leave the country. One could be sent to his or her own house or neighbor. Remember, God wants all saved and come to know the complete truth. He doesn't just want those saved in struggling economies or what some may consider "poor". Poor in God's mind doesn't mean not having money. It means not being rich in His Spirit.
I think there was some poetic license taken in this verse. The question is word for word with the Greek, as well as "How beautiful are the feet of them." Here is what the Greek literally says after this: that preach peace, of them that preach the good things. Both times that word "preach" is the Greek euaggelizo, where we get our word evangelize from. It literally means "proclaim good news" [1]
How beautiful are the feet of those that proclaim the good news of peace, of those that proclaim the good news of good things!
Another interesting point is that word for beautiful is horaios, which means seasonable or timely, coming from the root word hora [2]. It does have the idea of beautiful, but from the aspect of something in its right time. Compare this with other words that are translated as beautiful, such as kalos or asteios. Is this not the appropriate word for the gospel of God's grace that was given to the apostle Paul, which was kept secret since the world began (Rom 16:25)?
The quote comes from Isaiah 53:7, but note how it is rightly divided as the whole verse is not quoted.
Romans 10:16
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Now the bad news. I have to start this verse off from the Greek because it makes a major difference. We need to go back to verse 4 to get who is in the context here. There is no pronoun "they" in verse 16 here. It literally says, "But not all obeyed the gospel." Back in verse 4, we have the point that to the all believing, Christ is the end of the Law. We know that the gospel, or the word which is preached here, is the gospel of the grace of God (verse 8-9). We also know that the all will be saved if they call upon the name of the Lord in verse 13. Paul can say the all, because there is no difference between Jew or Greek (verse 12). The bad news is that the all haven't believed, and that by choice.
The quote comes from Isaiah 53:1. It more literally says, "Who hath believed the hearing of us?"
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The conclusion to verses 14-16 is this here. People can't believe in whom they have not heard. People can't hear unless a preacher is sent. Therefore, faith comes by hearing, but hearing what? Hearing the word of God. This makes sense in the English, but the Greek opens up more levels of understanding what is being said here.
Faith comes out of (ek) hearing. Not just any faith, but the faith comes out of hearing. what is the faith? It is the faith of Paul's gospel, believing that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures (1 Cor 15:3-4). It is important what is heard, though.
The word "and" here is "de" in the Greek. There is also a definite article for hearing. Finally, "word" is rhema, which is the spoken word, and the Greek has Christ instead of God (KJV was accurate to the text it was using, the received text, but "word of Christ" is in all other texts). The second half of this verse reads like this: Now the hearing through (dia) the spoken word of Christ.
If you want to have the faith today, you must be engaged in the spoken word of Christ. How can we do that, you may ask? By hearing someone talk about Genesis through Revelation, because all scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16). Jesus Christ is the word (John 1:1, Rev 19:13). To have this faith today, you must get to know God through His word, which we call the bible. Not everyone will get it right, so we must also be diligent to prove ourselves unto God that we rightly divide His word (2 Tim 2:15). Talking to God through prayer about everything will also bring us to the knowledge of the truth (1 Thess 5:17, Phil 4:6). God is faithful and will show you what He is talking about if you let Him say what He says in His word (Rom 3:4).
Romans 10:18
But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
So if faith comes out of hearing the spoken word of Christ, and the all have not obeyed, then did they not hear the spoken word of Christ? This is the logical question being posed here. It is a very emphatic question with "me ouk" in the Greek, meaning "no not". Have they really not heard? The answer is one compound word made up of three Greek words: menounge. Men has the meaning indeed, oun has the meaning therefore, and ge has the meaning really. Can we get much more emphatic? Really, indeed, therefore, their sound went to all the earth.
The word for "words" here again is rhema. God was speaking His truth and His words to all the earth through His servants the preachers. Isaiah was one of them, speaking to Israel before the Babylonian captivity, asking the question, "Who hath believed the hearing of us?" Throughout the bible we see many servants of the Lord speaking His truth to the world.
We need to understand today that we have a slightly different message to preach than Isaiah did. During Isaiah's time, he was looking forward to the coming kingdom promised to Israel (Ex 19:5-6). He would have exhorted his hearers to keep the Law of Moses. Today, we have the message of reconciliation where Christ did all the work for us (2 Cor 5:18-21, Rom 4:5, Eph 2:8-9, 1 Cor 15:1-4). We don't have the earthly kingdom to look forward to, but rather we are citizens of Heaven (Phil 3:20). Believers of Paul's gospel (Rom 16:25, cf Acts 3:21) will be taken out of the way before the wrath of God comes upon the earth, and we will be with Jesus Christ forever after (1 Thess 4:13-18, 2 Thess 2:1-7).
Back to the verse then, God claims that all the earth heard the spoken words, so we can conclude that Israel certainly heard as well.
Romans 10:19
But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
If Israel had heard the words of God spoken, then faith would be next, right? They heard, but did they understand what they heard? God is now going to address that question by quoting Himself three times.
Again we have the "me ouk" in the Greek here for the question. Did Israel really not know? The word for "know" here is the root ginosko, or the knowledge by experience (where we get gnostic from). They heard the words of truth, so did they really not get it?
The quote in this verse comes from Deut 32:21. Interesting to note that "people" and "nation" are both the Greek word ethnos. The word for "foolish" is the Greek asunetos (a = opposite, sunetos = to understand by synthesizing [1]). God was very clear that He would use whatever it took to get Israel to see and understand the truth. He told them that He would use a nation that rejected His truth to get the better of them, to make them think why they weren't prospering over a pagan people when Israel had the words and promises of God. And God did just that.
Romans 10:20
But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
To further back up the fact that Israel as a whole knew the truth, God quotes Isaiah 65:1. Throughout Israel's history, certain of them were tugged on by God to fill these roles of prophets and judges. It didn't have to be just prophets and judges though. There are many more names of believers during that time, like the 7000 when Elijah was lamenting to God (1 Ki 19:14-18), who had their eyes, ears, and hearts opened by God revealing Himself to them. Once they heard the words of truth and understood that God is who He says He is, they became a people. They became the believers of the gospel of the Circumcision. They became the Israel of God (Gal 6:16).
Romans 10:21
But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
Israel knew the truth. Everyone in the nation was without excuse. God was constantly reaching out to them, but they would not obey as a nation. This quote is from Isaiah 65:2.
God was constantly telling them that it was because of their choices and unbelief that these calamities were upon them, like in Isaiah 59. As a nation, God tells Israel that they are disobedient and contradicting (gainsaying in KJV). They most certainly knew the truth, but they chose not to obey it as a nation.
This verse starts off with the Greek word "de" translated as "But" in the English. After quoting Himself twice, God wants to make an emphatic point here. The word "to" is the Greek "pros," which means to or toward [1]. Then there is a definite article as well. The beginning of the verse can be translated this way: "Now toward the Israel He says..."
The word "unto" in this verse is again "pros." The Greek for "gainsaying" is antilego, which is literally "against-speaking." This is quite the picture. All the day long, God is holding out his hands to Israel, holding out what they need. All the day long, as a nation, the people push back God's hands and choose not to receive His grace.
Remember, God told us that Israel didn't obtain the righteousness of God because they sought it not by faith (Rom 9:32). They tried to seek their own righteousness through the Law, which God showed the difference in detail in this chapter of Romans. They knew the truth, but rejected it as a nation. Keep that in mind as we go into chapter 11.
References
HELPS Word-studies [1]
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance [2]
